Tag: Gurrumul

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Gurrumul Takes New Music Direction

Gurrumul is expanding his musical horizons, creating new music that combines Yolngu songs with electro-dance beats. Gurrumul calls the fusion Electro Trad Music, and he’s bringing it to music lovers with his TRIBE2tribe electro tour next year.

I must admit based on the snippet of the new single “Warrk” I’m not sure I like this stuff as much as Gurrumul’s more acoustic, Gospel material, but it’s probably unfair to judge on just a minute of music. I also appreciate an artist who wants to keep in exploring music and seeing what else is out there.

Gurrumul will bring his new sounds to music lovers on the East Coast with the following shows.

15 February 2016 – Max Watts, Melbourne
19 February 2016 – Max Watts, Sydney
21 February 2016 – Max Watts, Brisbane

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Gurrumul Gives Praise with “Jesu” From The Gospel Album

I don’t know what it is about the music of Gurrumul, but listening to him just makes me feel at peace. I don’t need to know what he’s singing about, because I can feel it on an emotional level. Checking out the film clip for “Jesu,” the lead single from Gurrumul’s third studio album The Gospel Album, is just what I needed on this Friday afternoon.

The clip for this song of praise was recorded on location at Brighton’s Trinity Uniting Church and Galiwinku on Elcho Island. It’s the ideal companion for this mellow gospel tune.

The Gospel Album sees Gurrumul delivering his take on the spiritual songs the Christian missionaries brought to Arnhem Land. It’s in stores on July 31, just a couple of days after Gurrumul kicks off the album tour.

29 July 2015 – Enmore Theatre, Sydney
2 August 2015 – QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane
5 August 2015 – Festival Theatre @ Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide
8 August 2015 – Supersense Festival, Melbourne
10 August 2015 – Canberra Theatre, Canberra
12 August 2015 – Perth Concert Hall, Perth

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Paul Kelly, Gurrumul, and More to Play 30th Barunga Festival

The Barunga Festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary with a bang this year. Paul Kelly, Gurrumul, Neil Murray (ex-Warumpi Band), and Sammy Butcher will all make appearances at the event, which will take over the Barunga area, two hours south of Katherine, over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.

The festival will also deliver a great line-up of cultural performances, sporting events, workshops, and kids’ activities.

“Barunga Festival is a celebration of culture,” said festival director and Skinnyfish Music CEO Mark Grose. “The event is stronger than ever and attracts Indigenous clans from across the Northern Territory and beyond where they can meet, compete, discuss and celebrate their links and their diversity. It’s also a place for non-Indigenous people to come and get a taste of the real Australia with their families”.

If you’ve never been, the 30th anniversary is the time to change all that. The Barunga Festival runs from June 5 to 7. Tickets, which include camping, are available through Moshtix or at the gate.

Image used with permission from SGC Media

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Merry Christmas One and All!

It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas! I hope you all have an amazing day filled with fun, family, food, and other festive goodness. To set the mood I figured I’d share with you Gurrumul and Delta Goodrem’s twist on “Silent Night.”

I really love this. I thought their voices blended so beautifully when they recorded “Bayini” together in 2013, and it’s wonderful to hear that magic breathing new life into the Christmas classic.

You can find the track on this year’s Myer Spirit of Christmas or the So Fresh Songs for Christmas album. It’s worth buying a copy of both, as the Myer release raises money for the Salvos while So Fresh is helping out the Gurrumul Yunupingu Foundation.

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Flume Remixes Gurrumul & Yolanda Be Cool Collaboration

I started this blog with the aim of celebrating Australian music inclusively. I don’t care what genre it is, if it’s mainstream or alternative; if it’s good it’s good. So I was excited to find a track that seems to celebrate the same ethos: Flume’s remix of Yolanda Be Cool and Gurrumul’s collaborative effort “A Baru in New York.” Gurrumul and Yolanda Be Cool wrote the song about Gurrumul’s totem animal, a baru or saltwater crocodile. Flume’s treatment has taken it to another level.

These are three acts that come from very different areas of the Australian music industry. Most of us wouldn’t expect any joint effort to work. But then you listen, and it does.

“Gurrumul is so impressed with how his song with Yolanda Be Cool was reinterpreted by Flume,” explained Gurrumul’s friend and collaborator Michael Hohnen. “Gurrumul and I listened together to the remix, sitting on the floor, in front of a huge stereo system. He proclaimed at the end of it – “that sounds like a crocodile movie”.

“Gurrumul has embraced this song ever since he created it with the Yolanda boys, and even appeared in the beautiful music video. Flume’s managed to create almost electro-orchestral backing, while retaining the sense of history and dignity which is such a quality of Gurrumul’s music.”

If ever there was a track to bridge the gap between indigenous music and more mainstream fare, this is it. Wow.

Image used with permission from Stephen Green Consulting

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Gurrumul Yunupingu Scoops National Indigenous Music Awards

Gurrumul Yunupingu was the big winner at this year’s National Indigenous Music Awards. He took home five gongs: Act of the Year, Album and Artwork of the Year for Rrakala, and Song and Film Clip of the Year for “Gathu Mawula,” a collaboration with Blue King Brown.

Arnhem Land-based singer-songwriter Rrawun Maymuru showed he’s one to watch after taking out New Talent of the Year. I wonder exactly what constitutes “new talent,” as he was part of Yothu Yindi, but at least the title should help draw attention to his solo material.

It was also a night for honoring established talent, with No Fixed Address and Coloured Stone taking their places in the National Indigenous Music Awards Hall of Fame.

Here are all the winners!

School Band of the Year: Gapuwiyak School Band
Cover Art: Rrakala – Gurrumul Yunupingu
Film Clip: “Gathu Mawula” – Gurrumul Yunupingu & Blue King Brown
New Talent of the Year: Rrawun Maymuru
Traditional Music: The Mulka Manikay Archives
Song of the Year: “Gathu Mawala” – Gurrumul Yunupingu and Blue King Brown
Album of the Year: Rrakala – Gurrumul Yunupingu
Act of the Year: Gurrumul Yunupingu
Hall of Fame Inductees: Coloured Stone & No Fixed Address

Image used with AUM PR

Posted on by Lauren Katulka

Gurrumul Gets an American Release, Announces US Tour

In 2008 all of Australia fell under the spell of Gurrumul. This blind indigenous singer sang in a language most of us didn’t understand, but his warmth and passion spoke to us in way that went beyond words.

His self-titled album went platinum twice and won ARIA Awards for best independent release and best world album. Now American audiences are set to hear it, with the album scoring a US release through Dramatico Records on June 15.

Gurrumul will support the release with the following shows in North America and Europe, where he has also built a strong following. If you’re living abroad, you don’t want to miss these shows.

DARWIN, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 21: Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu performs live on stage during the Indigenous Music Awards 2009 at the Gardens Amphitheatre on August 21, 2009 in Darwin, Australia. (Photo by Peter Eve/Getty Images)


15 June 2010 – Joe’s Pub , New York City
20 June 2010 – World Cafe Live, Philadelphia
22 June 2010 – Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Centre, Washington
24 June 2010 – Enwave Theatre @ Harbourfront Centre, Toronto
30 June 2010 – Old Town School of Folk Music , Chicago
6 July 2010 – Triple Door , Seattle
8 July 2010 – Troubadour, Los Angeles
15 July 2010 – Muffathalle, Munich
16 July 2010 – Sunset Festival, Zurich
19 July 2010 – Nice Jazz Festival, Nice
20 July 2010 – Paleo Festival, Nyon
22 July 2010 – Stuttgart Jazz Open @ Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart
23 July 2010 – WOMAD Festival, Malmesbury
24 July 2010 – Barbican Centre, London